Stella flashed them a grin. I was waiting for that, she declared breezily. The best way to fight the nuns back for taking away choir and orchestra? Create our OWN secret choir and orchestra. BETTER THAN IT SOUNDS

They
had only been in the attic for a half hour, and Stella had already
taken an immense liking to Lady Lorraine. By the pleased looks on her
friends' faces, she guessed that they had, too. Lady Lorraine was
every bit of an extremely clever child.

The
nine of them crowded around the stove, warming their chilly hands,
and discussed how best to create a choir and orchestra right under
the nuns' noses. "Everyone who does some sort of singing or
instrument can join," Crystalline declared right at the start.

Carissa
wrinkled her nose. "Except for Elise and Carolina and Hillary and
all those popular girls. They'll rat us out to the nuns for sure."

Indiana
Opal nodded. "Agreed."

Stella
scribbled furiously on a sheet of paper. "Okay," she started, "so
the plan is to hold a courtyard assembly on the nuns' shopping day,
when Lady Lorraine and Madame Melanie are in charge. They're good
guys. Carmella and Carissa cause a 'major makeup emergency' on
Tiffany Bloomers, to distract the popular girls. We then read the
plan to them, which is that all members of choir and orchestra to
gather in the overgrown rose gardens next Saturday. In the rose
gardens, we eight then explain that we are in charge of a new choir
and orchestra. Carissa, Adele, Melancholy and I will be in charge of
orchestra, and Lisa, Crystalline, Indiana and Carmella will be in
charge of choir. Okay, so Carissa, Adele, Melancholy and I will talk
to the orchestra about bringing their instruments and the music they
were working on before the nuns cut C and O off. We'll talk about
sneaking chairs and stands to the rose gardens. We'll go over what
they need to bring next Saturday. They'll talk about seating
arrangements and such." Stella paused, and then plowed on.

"Okay,
so meanwhile, in choir, they'll talk about bringing the music we
were working on before C and O were cut, and the placing. They'll
explain the whole in-charge-peoples situation. After both meetings,
the orchestra and choir will meet together again and we'll explain
schedules and tips to keep the nuns off our heels." Stella took a
deep breath and grinned in satisfaction. "Lady Lorraine, you are a
genius."

Lady
Lorraine winked. "Always glad to help, dear."

Carmella
sucked on the hard candy Lady Lorraine had passed out. "And her
Beauregard Bittersweets are heaven," she said contently.

Stella
laughed as she sucked on her own Beauregard Bittersweet. Fifteen
minutes after they had settled down and got out supplies, Lady
Lorraine had bustled over to the cabinets and had taken out a big jar
of Beauregard Bittersweets, the source of the Beauregard family
fortune. It was an amber hard candy that tasted tangy and sweet, with
a tiny bit of bitterness. It had the distinct taste of strawberry and
melon.

Carissa
crunched on her Beauregard Bittersweet and smiled at the plan. "We're
armed and loaded," she said happily.

"Mission
One, success," Crystalline laughed as she and the other seven
watched the stragglers of the choir-and-orchestra meeting fade away.

Stella
smiled. "You know, I have a feeling that this is actually going to
work."

Carissa
glanced over the crumpled plan paper. "We went over everything,"
she declared, satisfied. "We left nothing out."

"Oomph,"
Carmella grunted. "Uh, a little help with the chairs?"

The
members of choir and orchestra had showed up at the entrance to the
deserted old rose garden. Indiana Opal had guided them to the big
clearing, and Stella split choir and orchestra up. She stationed
orchestra in the big clearing and choir in the little one. In their
own individual secluded practice areas, the girls had explained the
whole plan to the orchestra and choir. After the set one hour, the
choir had headed back to the big clearing, the girls had gone over a
few details, and it was over.

As
Stella headed over to the chairs that the orchestra had sat on, she
said thoughtfully, "You know, we should go to Lady Lorraine's and
tell her how it went. We'll definitely need more help from her."

"Yeah,
you're right," Lisa agreed as she added another folded chair to
the pile. She paused, her face scrunched in concentration. Then her
face lit up and she exclaimed, "Oh! I remember! Hey Stella,
remember Artemis Clearwater?"

Lisa
nodded. "Yeah!" She looked around and bit her lip. "Er…after
we put the chairs away."

"Oh,
go ahead," said Carmella. "We can put these away."

Stella
smiled hopefully. "Are you sure?"

"Go,
shoo," Carissa urged. "And expect us there after we clean up."

Stella
and Lisa dashed out of the rose garden and into St. Celia's. They
raced up the steps and down to the small hallway. It was a strange
one, to be entered by a door in the normal hallway that was slightly
bigger than the others. Stella pushed open the door and they ran down
the small hall and stopped at the sick room.

Lisa
smiled breathlessly at Stella and tentatively pushed the door open.
They slipped through and looked around nervously.

The
beds were empty except for one bed with the curtains drawn. Madame
Melanie, the young nurse, bustled around the room, making the empty
beds and sweeping the dusty floor. Stella had been in the sick room
only once, before Artemis fell ill, and it had been shadowy and dusty
and depressing. Now, since Madame Melanie was in charge, sunlight
streamed from the windows and there was hardly any dust at all.

Madame
Melanie looked up and smiled cheerfully at the sight of Stella and
Lisa. "Hello, dearies," she greeted them. She pointed to the
curtained four-poster bed. "Artemis is in there. Go ahead."

Stella
and Lisa exchanged looks before hesitatingly pulling open the
curtains. Laying in the bed, swathed by sheets, was a tall, skinny
girl, with stringy red hair and half-shut eyes. She was sickly and
limp and deathly pale, but the bright smile she gave them was
unmistakable. "Artemis!" Lisa and Stella cried happily.

"Stella!
Lisa!" Artemis exclaimed, incredulous. "I haven't seen you for
ages!" She pushed herself up and her eyes were bright and wide.

Stella
and Lisa sat on Artemis' bed, one on each side. "How have you
been feeling?" Lisa asked anxiously.

Artemis
chuckled. "Oh, wonderful, I guess." She eyed them. "What have
you guys been up to? You know, Adele and Carissa and the others?"

Stella
and Lisa smirked at each other. "What have we been up to? Why, why
would you think we have been up to anything?" Stella inquired
innocently.

Artemis
rolled her green eyes. "Oh, don't give me that rubbish. I taught
you too well for you to stay out of trouble. Now, what mischief have
you guys been causing these days?"

Stella
gave a mock reluctant sigh and said, "Well, fine, if you insist."
Then she and Lisa eagerly gushed about the evilness of Sister Augusta
and her cutting off choir and orchestra. They vividly described
Stella's speech and their plan and their visit to Lady Lorraine.
Then, in great detail, came the description of the choir and
orchestra meeting.

Artemis
eyed them with a mixture of admiration and amusement. "Whoo,
doggy," she laughed. "Boy, have you guys been up to something."

"We
had
to do something," Lisa exclaimed passionately. "We couldn't let
that wicked hag get away with cutting off probably the only good
thing about St. Celia's."

"Too
true, too true," Artemis agreed.

At
that moment, the other six Weirdly Named Rebels burst into the sick
room, startling Stella, Lisa, Madame Melanie and Artemis. "Artemis!
Artemis!" they yelled breathlessly.

Artemis
laughed as the girls bounced onto her bed, and all was happy chatter
amidst chaos. Madame Melanie bustled around the bed, laughing and
shaking her head. "Now, now, girls, you must not overexert Artemis.
Keep in mind she's only just recovering and is still ill. Besides,
I'm afraid you have to leave soon; Artemis needs her meal and
medicine, and some rest."

Artemis
sighed dramatically. "Oh, Melanie, please, please
may they stay? I haven't seen any of them for four whole months.
Can't they stay for lunch?"

Madame
Melanie pursed her lips doubtfully.

"Please?"
Carmella pleaded.

"Oh,
please, Madame Melanie," Indiana Opal implored.

Madame
Melanie threw her hands up in defeat. "Oh, alright. You win." She
headed for the door. "But you must finish the fried broccoli and
the sweet potatoes. And keep Sister Augusta away."

Artemis
laughed and snuggled into her sheets and pillows. "Alright," she
said demandingly, "tell me about Lady Lorraine, Beauregard
Bittersweets, and the Weirdly Named Rebels' Choir and Orchestra."

Of
course, the eight girls were more than happy to oblige.

April
1

I'm
sorry I haven't written in so long. I've done so much, and I have
so much to tell you.

The
truth is Sister Augusta did cut choir and orchestra. But Lisa,
Carmella, Carissa, Adele, Indiana Opal, Crystalline, Melancholy and I
have STARTED OUR OWN CHOIR AND ORCHESTRA. Yes, I know. Exciting.
Daring. Right under the nuns' noses! They don't know ANYTHING
about it, Mother's Diary.

And
you know who helped us with our plans? LADY LORRAINE. Uh-huh. That's
right. THE Lady Lorraine Beauregard, inheritor of the Beauregard
Bittersweet Hard Candies, most respected, clever, and crazy woman in
the history of history. She's wonderful. She's amazingly
childlike, and understands exactly what we feel. Mm…maybe I'll
visit her again today.

And
guess what? Madame Melanie Smith is the new nurse until Madame Pansy
comes back. And Madame Melanie has worked her magic on Artemis! She's
getting better! We visited her. Oh yes, and the rest of the girls
have taken to my group name, the Weirdly Named Rebels. That's what
we're secretly called now, along with the Anti-Nuns Group and The
Brave Peoples. The popular preps don't know a thing about it,
either, because they're on the nuns' side.

This
whole business is so exciting. We're having our first musical
rehearsal soon. Carmella and Lisa and Crystalline and Indy all say
that choir is gong excellent. Orchestra has not yet done any
music-playing in our secret rose garden, so I'm hesitant to say.

Mm…this
whole thing is like a daring adventure. I…wish…I wish my mother
was still…here. Lynna would definitely approve of our schemes. Now
that I think about it, Lynna was a lot like Lady Lorraine. Her hair
and eye color are different, but the shape of her face and her
personality is a lot like Lady Lorraine's.

Okay,
another daring feat of the Weirdly Named Rebels. Yesterday,
Melancholy was feeling rebellious and devilish, so she mixed together
glue with honey and smeared it all over Wicked Witch of the West's
seat. Oh, you should have seen the look on Triple W's face. It was
contorted into anger and embarrassment. It looked like a boiling
beet. Oh, it was so funny. Carmella's milk squirted out of her
nose, and Indy and Carissa were looking at Melancholy, who had a huge
smile on, with utmost admiration.

This
entry was sure exciting. I'll try to do more things to amuse you.

I
wish Annalynne were here.

Ciao
for now,

Stella
Montescot

--

Whoo! Chapter four down. Tell me how it went.

Thanks to Qzie and any other people who decide to read and review!

Bare with me; the story's wording will get more...modern.

Have fun in life, laugh out loud and chat later!

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